Cradled in the Sands
by Nova Alexandria
Summary: A one shot inspired by Blackstorm about the Quincy war.


I wrote this a long time ago. It was inspired by Blackstorm's picture: blackstormDOTdeviantartDOTcom/art/BLEACH-The-Hollow-kitty-and-the-Panther-King-409809425

Cradled in the Sands

How long the war had been going on now was uncertain to the weary young man. Sometimes it seemed like his entire life had been nothing but one big battle. Hollows, Shinigami, more powerful hollows, and now Quincy. Only unlike the other battles he had fought, this one was far, far more violent. Sure people had been hurt, even died in the other wars, but they had never been obliterated, not like what the Quincy's did. When a Quincy's arrow flew true, it meant the target ceased to exist.

For a time they had turned the tide, thanks to Kisuke discovering how dangerous a hollow's reiatsu was to the Quincy. With the Arrancar fighting by their side, they had managed to push back, but the Quincy were not going down without a fight. The Vandervich had found a way to counter Soul Societies new hollow allies. Kisuke and Mayuri had explained it to him once, but he honestly didn't really understand it.

He was on patrol in Hueco Mundo, keeping an eye out for any assault groups or hunting parties looking for hollows to recruit as cannon fodder. The Vandervich hadn't ceased exploiting hollows in their war against the Shinigami, now they just held their new weapon over their head. Of course, only the highest ranked Shinigami stood a chance against an Arrancar, and there were a lot of Arrancar Aizen had made before his imprisonment. Hollow and Shinigami stood against Hollow and Quincy. It made the battle field a hell of a mess.

A growl broke Ichigo out of his thoughts and he turned his attention towards his companion, who padded along beside him on all four paws. Four paws, not two feet or even the two paws of his reserreccion.

Grimmjow had been one of the first to taste the Quincy's new weapon, one that pulled the power Aizen had given him out and, as a result, reverted him back to his Adjucus state. Grimmjow was not the only Arrancar to have been reverted by the Quincy weapon. Nel had been as well, only in her case it might have been for the better, for by doing so her mask had been repaired and she was a full on adult again, and a Vasto Lorde. The Vandervich had made an error there, and now Nel was far more dangerous than she had been, especially because her two 'brothers' had been among the casualties of the war.

Grimmjow suddenly paused, causing Ichigo to stop in his tracks as well. His hollow companion had far better senses than he did. If Grimmjow thought he scented or detected something, than Ichigo was going to trust in his senses.

"Anything?" Ichigo asked.

"Maybe," Grimmjow answered, his voice a deep growl in his new state.

Ichigo couldn't help but to let out a shiver as he watched his companion adopt a stalking pose and move off. Grimmjow had felt dangerous before, but his human form had nothing on his Adjucus form. Ever inch of Grimmjow was pure, muscled, killing perfection. A work of beautiful art. All the Vandervich had accomplished was to piss the former Espada off even more by turning him back into an Adjucus.

Giving his head a shake, Ichigo followed Grimmjow's lead, trailing along in the paw prints left in the sand; prints that were as large as his own feet. When Grimmjow crouched down, he followed the hollow's lead and belly crawled over the dune to look down at whatever it was that had caught Grimmjow's attention.

It was a group of hollows, also Adjucus. Three of them by the looks of it. Ichigo sighed and settled himself in the sand. They were no threat to him, but to Grimmjow they were a meal. Now that he was no longer an Arrancar, he was required to feed on others once more in order not to regress. It had surprisingly never bothered him, perhaps because Adjucus were so animal shaped. It was no different than watching a leopard bring down a gazelle.

Settling more comfortable in the sand, Ichigo watched as his companion stalked off to catch his dinner. It was amazing how well that bone white body blended in with the sands. The three didn't even know what hit them. Blood sprayed across the sands as the large predator made his move and secured his meal. Ichigo felt a shiver of excitement race up his spine watching the show.

He turned away when Grimmjow began to feed though. The scent of blood in the air would alert anyone nearby to the kills. Ichigo set up a perimeter so Grimmjow could feed safely and concentrate on eating quickly rather than needing to pause every few seconds to scent for danger; difficult to do over the fresh blood assailing his nostrils.

Ichigo gave him half an hour to eat before returning to his partner. Grimmjow had moved away from the kills, now nothing but a memory in the sands, and was busy licking the blood off of his front paws. Ichigo joined him without a word, settling down beside the large feline and pulling out his own rations. Words were not needed between them, not any longer. Grimmjow had fed and was recharged. Now it would be his turn to eat and rest to regain his own strength.

The desert was cold, but they couldn't risk a fire to keep warm. He watched impassively as Grimmjow rose to his paws and dug out a pit for them to sleep in. Once it was to the hollow's satisfaction, Grimmjow lay down and turned vivid blue eyes his way. Brushing the crumbs of his meal from his fingers off on his black Hakama, Ichigo joined Grimmjow in the pit.

It never ceased to amaze him how much heat Grimmjow's body could give off, and within seconds he found himself curled against the white body sharing the temporary nest with him. Exhausted from the long day patrolling, and feeling safer than he did even in the barracks at the 6th, Ichigo found his exhausted body drifting off into slumber. One did not squander resources in the cold, heartless, barren land that was Hueco Mundo.


End file.
